Are Forums the Forgotten Medium?

@TSteps http://t.co/3pLctTAX

@TSteps Thanks, Terence! :)

@mattnowak1 good one. Thanks for sharing @jessicamalnik's piece on forums. Really need to mull that one over for our @fmrealty strategy.

@MalharBarai @ginidietrich Not at all, they are still the oceans of knowledge - ReLoaded ;)

@StaceyHood @ginidietrich aftermarket providers live and die by forum followings

@StaceyHood @ginidietrich - depends on which industry you're speaking to. Forums have been a large part of aftermarket auto marketing

@Yuricon @ginidietrich I hope not, since I just started one!

Interesting topic. Because we are a software solutions provider, our folks are always on their applicable forums (Business Objects, TDWI, Java, .NET, etc). Each of those forums have very engaged communities, and a natural pecking order has been established spanning experts to lurkers. In fact, a few of our folks are in that rarified "expert" category.

Because of the level of interaction on these forums, and because we hope the rest of the developer's time is spent actually DEVELOPING after learning new ideas on a forum, I wonder if there is time for an active blog community. I've been considering a corporate blog to cover more of what we do (Pulse is just a small part), but I wonder how many developers would go the RSS feed route and start reading our content...and then contributing to the discussion via comments. They may think that dilutes their attention span from forums.

They may take on the attitude "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", and we could blog exceptional content to a bunch of crickets.

Thoughts?

There's really two discussions wrapped into one on this issue.  Do brand launch their own forums in support of products and services or establish a presence on existing forum communities, perhaps even running banner ads on those networks? 

As an avid homebrewer, I used to be very active on brewing forums when looking for process and recipe improvements, etc. Small vendors could easily capture business just by being active on the forums, offering discounts to members, etc. 

@AmyVernon Hi Amy! Just thought I would say hello! Nice to see you ~hugs~

I think there are places for private and places for public. I don't use forums much but I see the value if discussing banking or personal health issues. However, there are excellent public communities on different blogs that offer tremendous value and advice in many different areas. The conversations are the thread that holds these communities together. I think one should use common sense when sharing personal info.

@markwschaefer disagree with the privacy thing - depending on the community ppl will share most anything! Oh, & forums r certainly not dead!

@TedRubin @ginidietrich not really stackoverflow are forums mark 2 and sites like 4chan/hacker news are sort of deconstructs

Jessica, I'll second Danny, and you.

One of the things I love about forums is that, whether you create it yourself or join an existing forum, you get a conversation not just WITH the community, but amongst it.  You can learn from the people who care the most about a topic exactly what it is they think and feel. 

@jeffespo @ginidietrich Been talking with a lot of people about that lately. Remind me to comment on the blog post later after my mtg. :)

Nice reminder, Jessica - the smart marketers have always used forums as a key part of any research and strategy. Some of the best insights around are on retail forums, for example - and they're only accessed by the very few.

Time for marketers to wake up - great starter!

@greenmelinda Exactly! Thanks for sharing my guest post! :)

@greenmelinda unless there are Great incentives, forums do get forgotten and wither. Alignment is huge.

@opajdara @jessicamalnik I still visit forums but not as much. the main sites I visit are twitter, youtube, pinterest.

@LisaSullivan Forums would work very well for real real estate. They would help build trust and showcase experience.

@heitzke You just gave me a really good idea!

@mbeasi @ginidietrich Forums are still alive and well in media fandoms and any interest with an older/geekier audience.

@mbeasi You'll be good! @Yuricon

 @dbvickery I think it goes back to a little bit of what @jasonkonopinski said. If they are already engaged and uber active on other forums, don't try to reinvent the wheel and create your own forum or blog just because. Often times, it may be better to just be present and engage where your audience is already at. 

 @jasonkonopinski That brings up a great point, Jason. Brands don't necessarily have to create their own forum. In many cases, it's better just to be present where your audience is already sharing. However, just be engaging and helpful and not spammy. 

@BuzzEdition wow! There's a blast from the past. :) Hey! Nice to see you, too. Hope you're well? :)

 @abdallahalhakim It's not necessarily just about sharing in public v. private areas. Forums are by no means always private, but in many cases, since they are smaller and often times more tightknit, they elicit a community feel which encourages people to share more candidly.

 @barrettrossie Bingo! You nailed it. 

@AmyVernon @jeffespo Can't wait to hear your thoughts. Thanks for sharing my guest post btw! Cc @ginidietrich

 @Danny Brown Exactly, Danny! Also, everyone isn't comfortable sharing publicly on Facebook and Twitter, but many will share in smaller forums. This is especially true for banking and medical industries. 

@UsefulArts But any client who's asked us to build them a forum, we push back immediately. It makes no sense for brands.

@UsefulArts There are creative ways to market to EXISTING niche forums (auto enthusiasts, frequent flyers, for ex) with a big audience.

@mattnowak1 I don't disagree. I just need to figure out how to do it and well. I also need to be cloned too. ;)

@ginidietrich anything you can share? Definitely interested in the topic of forum marketing

 @jessicamalnik  @jasonkonopinski But then you do not have that "centralized" repository of your company's thought leadership - and all the Search goodness that comes with it. If our thought leadership was applied to a corporate blog, and then propagated through social platforms, then we substantially increase our reach.

Of course, the daily/weekly engagement may still happen more on the forums where folks are comfortable. But even then - for FAQs on the forums - it would be easy to point people to content on your own site.

@AmyVernon Busy...but doing well. I miss the digg crew. Those were the days! ;-)

 @jessicamalnik I agree! My favoruite public community, www.avc.com, is made up of around 100 people who regularly comment. I don't think public communities mean that they will be large. The trick is finding the right ingredients to building a community which is a very organic process.

@greenmelinda - I love community -- but some think its "free". No gardens grow from neglect. (well, except for mint.) ;>

@LisaSullivan What is “offline” anymore? :) But I do understand your general sentiment.

@mattnowak1 I try real hard 2 stay offline once 6:30/7 hits. I just want 2 play w/my dog, eat, etc. Tho I might Instagram or get glued 2. :)

@LisaSullivan Understood. I wish I could turn it off like that.

@mattnowak1 for me it's more than that. I only have so much bandwidth for tech. Once my day is done, I'm usually done tweeting, etc.

@LisaSullivan I know what you mean. Luckily I’m a night owl.

@mattnowak1 hmmm....I'll check it out. So much I want to do. So little time to do it all. :)

@LisaSullivan Nothing wrong with guilty pleasures. Branch was started by 2 of the Twitter founders. Learning curve, but great application.

@mattnowak1 hadn't heard of that one. I'm actually admin for 2 (or 3) soap opera forums (guilty pleasure) but it's been a while...

@LisaSullivan Have you heard of @branch ? Interesting forum medium. Maybe Fonville can create a Mini-Lisa for you. :)

@heitzke We have a client in auto aftermarket and we're ignoring forums

@BuzzEdition True that!

@UsefulArts http://t.co/YSp6nJ2H